Faith in Mind (Xinxinming), written by the Third Patriarch of Zen, Master Sengcan, is often praised as “the highest expression of Zen in words.” In this book, Seon Master Kim TaeWan—one of Korea’s leading contemporary Seon (Korean Zen) teachers—offers profound yet accessible teachings that point directly to awakening. His guidance leads readers beyond conceptual thinking and dualistic perception, into the heart of Seon. 

Rooted in the tradition of Patriarchal Seon and grounded in non-dual wisdom, this book serves as both a textbook and a compass for practitioners. Through each verse of Faith in Mind, Master Kim delivers Dharma talks that illuminate the text’s original intent, urging us to stop following thought and realize the mind’s true nature. 

The mind, he teaches, is already complete—there is nothing to attain, nothing to fix, and nothing to change. Practice, then, is not about seeking something new, but about embodying what has always been present.

The Buddha and Zen patriarchs ultimately pointed to only one thing—“this.” It has been called the Dharma, the Way, Emptiness, Original Face, Nirvana, or Heaven… yet it is beyond words.

“If you know this, you know everything. If you do not know this, you know nothing. What is this?”

Just this.

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